Revised and edited. Feel free to comment on the changes.
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HTTYD
Chapter Six: Waiting Outside a Locked Door
"WHAT?!"
El winced, covering his ears, as the villagers began to talk loudly amongst themselves. Henna and Edgar had just assembled the village in the Great Hall for the announcement of the wedding's cancellation. And everyone, basically, flipped out. All the planning and preparations gone to waste after so many days of hard work just like that.
Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the Twins were completely shocked, Hiccup the most of all. Why would Zenna and Eret suddenly want to cancel the wedding? It was all the two could talk about whenever they were together! Then the accusations began flying.
"That no good Son of Eret must have been unfaithful!"
"How dare he?! After we gave him another chance!"
"Everybody, shut up!" Edgar thundered while Henna snapped her fingers. Serpent and Serpentine instantly reared up and roared, silencing the Great Hall. All of the villagers looked at Henna and Edgar who both sternly glared at them all.
"Eret, Son of Eret, has nothing to do with this! Our daughter made the decision to cancel the wedding not because of him. Truth be told, we cannot fathom why Zenna would want to break off her engagement. All we know from her is that she told Eret yesterday that she wanted nothing to do with him from now on. And, while we may have not spoken to Eret about this matter, there is no doubt that he is in shock. He has been a fine gentleman to both our daughter and our family and we believe and know that he has not been unfaithful to Zenna."
Upon hearing Henna's words, the villagers began to murmur in confusion until Edgar shushed them. "Need I remind you lot the last time all of you suspected Eret? The lad's already gone through a living Helheim at the hands of Drago and Zenna breaking up with him has no doubt hurt him worse than any branding a madman could give you. So my family and I implore to you all to hold your suspicions over Eret until we hear Zenna's side of the story," he said seriously.
At this, the villagers all decided to agree on withholding their judgment on Eret until further notice.
After the meeting was over, Henna and Edgar went to go talk to Gobber and Valka while El played with Stryka who had joined the meeting. The one-eyed female Night Fury was visibly upset since Zenna wasn't with her and she missed her Rider dearly. She hadn't even had the chance to show Zenna that she was fine and that she didn't blame her for what happened yesterday. But she had been gently instructed by Zenna's parents to not speak a word about the accident to anyone. And as much as she wanted to explain the whole thing to Zenna's friends, Stryka knew that she couldn't.
Meanwhile the other Riders left the Great Hall and began to talk. "I kind of believe in what Zen's parents said. There's no way Eret could be unfaithful to Zenna," Astrid said thoughtfully. "Are you even sure about that? I mean remember how he betrayed her when we first met him? If he was a bad guy once, he can be a bad guy again," Snotlout pointed out, feeling a bit suspicious. "Maybe…but we should probably give Eret the benefit of doubt. He wasn't in the meeting earlier, come to think of it…" Fishlegs said, putting a hand to his chin. "Probably so he wouldn't have to fess up to being a cheating git…" Tuffnut muttered, angry at the former dragon trapper that had once broken his former crush's heart. "Come on guys, can't we just cut Eret some slack? He probably didn't come because he's too depressed…" Ruffnut said before noticing that Hiccup was heading over to Eret's house.
Eret had already gotten out of bed earlier in the morning and had already washed up and dressed. But when it came to eating, he only fed Skullcrusher but he couldn't find it in himself to make breakfast. After yesterday, Eret wasn't really sure if life was worth living anymore now that Zenna had pretty much broken up with him and left him to grieve on his own. So, he just sat down on a chair in the living room and stared at the ring Zenna had given back to him with a blank look on his face. Then somebody knocked loudly on the door and that seemed to bring Eret back to reality. Getting up, Eret shuffled on over to the door and opened it.
The next thing he knew, Hiccup's fist punched him squarely in the face!
"Hiccup!" Astrid cried out in surprise as her boyfriend grabbed Eret by the shirtfront and roughly shook him. "Talk, you son of an Eret! What did you do to make Zen cancel her wedding?! Eret, what did you do?!" Hiccup growled, his emerald green eyes blazing with fury. "Chief, I swear I don't know!" Eret whimpered pathetically, trembling slightly in fear of the Chief's wrath. Luckily Toothless nudged Hiccup and cooed gently to calm his Viking brother down. "Hiccup, let him go. He said that he didn't know and we should understand," Astrid said gently, placing her hand on Hiccup's shoulder.
But Eret sighed and braced himself. "It's okay, Astrid. I deserve this anyway. Go ahead, Hiccup, do your worst…" he said in defeat. Hiccup looked uneasy at how the former dragon trapper was willing to receive punishment and, after a moment, let go of Eret's shirtfront. The 21-year-old Chief flinched upon seeing that he had given Eret a really hard punch to the right side of his face, causing him to get a black eye. "I…I'm sorry, Eret…" he mumbled apologetically. Eret smiled a bit and said, "It's cool, Chief…" wincing a bit from the pain in his eye.
That's when everyone noticed that Eret was visibly distraught. His eyes were red from crying and his brow was creased with sadness. Once they had settled in Eret's house, Skullcrusher resting at his master's feet and cooing in concern, they listened to Eret's side of the story. It was obvious that the former dragon trapper was still reeling from getting his heart broken because by the time he finished explaining to the team what had happened yesterday, Eret was close to tears already.
"And she didn't tell you why she wanted to break up with you?" Fishlegs asked. "She told me that it was because of her…But I don't know why she thinks she's the problem! Zenna's anything but that! But she just…Gods, I don't even know what to do anymore!" Eret moaned and thunked his head against the top of the table, completely depressed. "Oh, you poor baby…" Ruffnut said softly and went to give Eret a hug before getting an ice pack for his swollen shiner. For once, he didn't appear uncomfortable about it.
"So…that's it? She just…left?" Snotlout asked. Eret nodded dejectedly. "Whoa…dude…sorry about suspecting you…" Tuffnut mumbled, feeling rather ashamed. "I understand you'd want to suspect me, guys…After all, I was a pretty big jerk back then…" Eret shrugged and sighed sadly. Astrid comfortingly patted his back. "Don't worry, Eret. We'll figure something out to get you and Zenna back together. Until then, well, we can always plan the wedding a different time," she said reassuringly. Hiccup had stayed silent the whole time and, now, he stood up from his seat.
"Zenna wouldn't just break off her engagement just like that…She must have an important reason…" he mumbled before coming up with an idea. "I'll go talk to her, Eret. If she couldn't say anything to you then maybe she can say it to me," he suggested. Eret looked at the one-legged Chief in surprise as he held the ice pack to his black eye before smiling gratefully.
"Wish me luck, guys…" Hiccup said before leaving with Toothless for the Fiersomes' house.
Locked in her room, Zenna just stared up at the ceiling while wallowing in her sadness. Her parents had come back from the meeting and, now, the entire village knew that she and Eret were no longer a couple. And she, honestly, felt unbearably guilty. Now fingers were being pointed at poor Eret and she did nothing to defend to him. In response to her negative emotions, Zenna's Lightning began to make her hair stand up due to the static. Frustrated, Zenna willed for her magic to disappear. That just resulted in all her other Elementals showing. Embers licked at her bed, the floor got coated in a fine layer of frost and vines began to creep up the walls!
"Holy Shields! Enough!" Zenna exclaimed and managed to get her magic under control…just as Hiccup knocked on her door.
"Zen…can I talk to you?" Hiccup's voice came from the other side of the door. Zenna sighed and got out of bed, walking over to the door but didn't open it. "Okay, Hicc, let's talk," she said, trying to sound as normal as she usually would. On the other side of the door, Hiccup awkwardly cleared his throat. "Um…then can you…maybe…open the door so I can see you?" he asked. That's when Zenna noticed that something was going on with her hair. Looking closely, she could see that four strands of her raven black hair were changing color! Letting out a small gasp, Zenna faced the door and, in the most firm tone she could muster, said, "No. I'm sorry, Hicc, but I don't really want to talk to you anymore."
'Holy Shields, Hiccup, I am so sorry! She mentally screamed at herself. First, Eret and now she was pushing her brother away!
Hiccup visibly flinched, something Zenna couldn't see due to the door being locked, and leaned against the door. "Zen, what's going on? Your parents told us that the wedding's off this morning and we went to see Eret after the announcement. He's really upset, Zenna…And…so am I. You were so happy when Eret proposed to you on your birthday and…you're just going to break up with him now? Zen, I know you. And I know that you're hiding something from us. If it's a problem, I wanna help you…" he said softly, hoping that his surrogate sister would open the door. He really wanted to give Zenna a hug, comfort her and help her get through whatever was troubling her. Inside her room, Zenna stifled her tears and resisted the urge to open her door to Hiccup and confess. But the fear of hurting Hiccup, her Chief and brother not by blood but by bond, forced her to stop reaching for the door handle.
And then there was also the slight resentment she had begun to feel towards Hiccup. The one-legged Chief had never mentioned anything to her about meeting Heather again and learning what had happened to the South two years ago and, here he was, trying to talk to her like he hadn't kept a single secret from her! The nerve of him! Zenna felt tears of heartbreak and anger well up in her eye.
Finally Zenna said, "Go away, Hiccup. I don't wanna talk to you right now. Just please go away." As the tears began to flow. Hiccup stood on the other side of his surrogate sister's locked door, unable to say anything and utterly shocked. Never had Zenna ever told him to stay away from her like that. It was as if she had undergone a transformation into a whole different person overnight.
Edgar and Henna then came upstairs and looked at their Chief and sadly shook their heads. Seeing that there was nothing he could do for now, Hiccup turned back to Zenna's locked door. "Okay, bye…" he said sadly and followed Zenna's parents back downstairs. "Sorry, Chief…She's just not feeling well today…" Henna sighed. "Come back another time, Hiccup. Zenna will probably feel better by then," Edgar suggested. Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, a bit unsure, but nodded. "Bye, Uncka Hiccwup…Pwaytwime latwer?" El asked, sucking on his thumb. Hiccup smiled and affectionately ruffled the little boy's hair. "Sure thing, buddy. I'll come by this afternoon. Just promise me to take a nap, okay?" he asked softly. "Okway!" El giggled.
Leaving the Fiersome house, Hiccup looked up and saw that Zenna had even closed her windows. 'She didn't even want to see me…' he thought miserably as he walked over to Toothless. The male Night Fury gurgled hopefully. "Sorry, bud…Zenna didn't want to talk…" Hiccup sighed. Toothless' face fell and he rumbled unhappily. "Yeah, I know, buddy…I'm worried about her, too…" Hiccup sighed as they flew back to the Great Hall. Inside, Eret was having a late breakfast but wasn't really eating much and picking at his food miserably while the gang was trying to cheer him up. Upon seeing Hiccup, Eret looked hopeful. "I tried talking to her…She didn't want to…" Hiccup reported sadly. Eret merely sighed and went back to picking at his food.
"Babe, maybe we just need to let Zenna have her space for now…" Astrid suggested, gently touching her boyfriend's shoulder. Hiccup nodded in agreement but looked almost as depressed as Eret. "I guess you're right…but…she didn't even want to see me…" the Chief sighed, glancing at Eret. The only thing the former dragon trapper could do was give Hiccup a sympathetic look.
They were two men waiting outside a locked door.
A locked door that had, on the other side, the woman they both loved dearly…and hoped would soon open.
